The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-10-27
"BUCKSKIN'S WIFE.
a Story of Belle Fourche Ranch
and Eldorado City.

The south wind sighed mournfully
through the tall grass around little ranch
near Indian creek, north of the Belle
FOurche. 1t had sighed the same way al
night and now there was faint glow in
the eastern sky and still no one came to
disturb its mournful music. For three
days, and this was the third night, the long
grass had seemed to sweep past the little
ranch in graceful, rolling waves, and nc
one had come by day to watch it bend and
rise under the steady south wind or By
night to hear its low, sweet murmuring g.
Perhaps it would not have been so lonely
and complained so much had there been
any one in the little ranch.
But the ranch had been deserted for the
last three days. And, for that matter, it
was frequently deserted. There wasn't
much to it anyhow-only a rude one-roOm
house-a ''shack''-and shed tC shelter
the horses. 1t was far from any other
ranches-in fact there were very few north
of the Belle Fourche or in the country at
all at this time. If you had seen it and
been acquainted with the country you
would have asked its owner, "BucEskin," F"
lit was the only name ne was known by
why he located it so far away from the min
ing towns south of the Belle FoJrche; and
Buckskin would have told you that it was
because the grass was better, or that his
uncle in Texas was going to drive through
ten thousand head of young steers and put
on his range; or he might have told you it
was none of your business, and if you had
insisted that it was, pulled out a most
murderous-looking revolver and invited
you to argument on the point. And Buck
sr,fc hoy- al I,o
same had you asked him. For Buckskin
and his partner had the same theories con-
cerning every thing; and Buckskin, es-
pecially, was said at Eldorado City, in the
expressive language of the place, to be
''mighty handy with his gum
But Buckskin's ranch was frequently de-
serted, as have said. The few people who
knew anything about it would sometimes
wonder why he and his partner were away
so much. OF course they were often at
Eldorado City, where Buckskin spent
whole nights in gambling, frequently end
ing up with a shooting affray in which he
usually "got his man." But great many
times they were neither there nor at the
little ranch, and even the few cattle which
belonged to Buckskin and his partner used
TO wonder about it; and the wild. long
horned Texas cattle would stand some dis
tance away from the house and hold their
noses very high and sniff the air and then
shake their heads and walk off, as much
as to say that they would give it up; and
the Estates cattle" in the herd-for the
little bunch was of all breeds and nation
alities-would walk boldly up and smell of
the rough boards as if they thought it
might be a barn such as they were ac-
quainted with in the East; and one day an
adventurouslyoung heifer pushed open the
unlocked door and stepped in; but they
always went away none the wiser as to the
whereabouts of Buckskin or his partner
So it is no wonder that the south wind
sighed mournfully as it bent the tall grass
around the little deserted ranch. But on
the night / speak of, along towards morn
ing. the wind and the grass ceased whis-
pering to each other, for the sound of
horses hoofs' was heard coming from the
southwest across the prairie. And the
horses and their riders soon came up to the
ranch, because they had approached very
cautiously and were quite near before they
could be heard at all There were two men
on horseback, each leading three other
horses. The men seemed to be so much at
home at the ranch that it could be none
other than Buckskin and his partner them
selves.
They put the horses they had been lead
ing under the shed and then they sat down
on rude seat in front of the house, each
with his rife across his lap, while the
horses they had been riding stood before
them.
''It must be three O'clock" said Buck |
skins partner, in a low voice.
"Yes," replied Buckskin.
"Irs time they showed up" continued |
his partner.
II reckon they will pretty quick Gimme
the bottle"
The other produced flask and after each |
had taken a drink Buckskin said:
This boss business don't mount to |
nothin' very great"
That's so, Buckskin."
81 tell ye we got % get that treasure |
coach"
"We orter, Buckskin, that's sure. 1 |
b'lieve we kin with Shorty T. help"
sGit it! ov course we kin" answered the |
other, impatiently. II could git it alone |
with good luck"
"Y-e-s-there's a good many guards,
Buckskin."
"Blank the guards ~ he replied with, / /
fear, unnecessary emphasis, s'shoot 'emi
This feolin' around an maxim 'em hold up |
their hands an all that kind o. truck is git /
tim too tame. The next time We tackle the |
treasure coach, me an you an Shorty, we |
shoot the guards, half ov 'em at least an, l ]
reckon the balance ov 'em will take the |
hint"
eyes, s'pose it'u'd be good plan, meo-
by-but ye see every time we kill a man
it'll make it go so much harder fur Us eff /
we're ever caught"
"Blank the differencer' said Buckskin.
again considering IL necessary to empha-
size somewhat strongly, still go jes' bout
so hard with US any way eff we're catched
I've killed men before, an amt afraid to
again. / know got % again too-there's
q man I'm goin' to kill inside o. three
months. / said I'd do it an Wilt"
'Who is it!'
"Ain't there something COMMIT" said
paying no attention to the ques-
tion of the other.
81 b'lieve So" replied his partner, invol-
glancing at his gun. They both
got Up and mounted their horses and sat
peering through the darkness, low slightly